While many companies offer employee discounts on gym memberships and other fitness programs, wouldn’t it be great if you could actually get paid to live a healthy, active lifestyle? Fortunately, there are plenty of apps out there that do exactly that. They’ll pay you through PayPal or gift cards to get moving, whether that’s simply walking or something more intensive like working out frequently and running multiple miles each week.
Unless you’re already a personal trainer or professional athlete, you’re not going to be able to quit your day job and just make money by exercising. Nevertheless, these apps offer great incentives for people to get more exercise, even if the health benefits of getting in shape aren’t enough motivation.
Not all money-for-fitness apps are the same, of course. Some differences you might discover include weight loss vs. overall fitness focus, distance vs. intensity of exercise, cash vs. gift card payouts, wagering against your personal goals vs. competing against other people, and so on.
To help you decide which app is a good fit for your fitness goals, here are the 5 best apps available today:
Make Money Exercising
Sweatcoin
One of the best Android/iOS apps that pay you to workout is Sweatcoin. To date, more than three trillion steps completed by Sweatcoin users have been converted into the Sweatcoin currency. That currency can then be used to get cash sent to your PayPal account, buy fitness gear, book travel adventures, or donate to charity.
Your steps are tracked with your smartwatch or phone’s accelerometers and GPS location, and every 1,000 steps you take equate to 0.95 Sweatcoins. Some prizes you can save up for include $1,000 PayPal cash (20,000 Sweatcoins), a Borneo expedition (15,000 Sweatcoins), fitness gear, and so much more.
Achievement
With more than 1.5 million members and more than $500,000 paid out so far, Achievement is another great app for getting paid to exercise. Achievement connects with more than 30 Android/iOS apps to collect your fitness information in exchange for rewards.
Notably, you’re not just rewarded for exercising, but also logging your food records, meditating, tweeting, answering surveys, and participating in challenges. You’ll make $10 for every 10,000 points you earn, which you can either have deposited into your bank account or sent to your PayPal address.
HealthyWage
If you are competitive, want to lose weight and need more motivation to get in shape, then HealthyWage is a great option. It lets you place bets on whether or not you’ll meet your fitness goals.
You start out with the calculator, which lets you determine how much weight you want to lose, how many months you need to reach that goal, and how much money you’re willing to bet each month. The more you bet, the higher your prize could be if you meet your goals. Then you enter other relevant personal details and see what prize you could win if you meet your goals.
There are also challenges for individuals and teams who contribute a minimum entry amount each month. HealthyWage offers some of the highest monetary prizes, but it’s worth noting that you could also lose money if you don’t make progress on your weight loss goals with this program. The founder said in an NPR interview that about 30-40% of users end up winning their bets.
StepBet
This app was designed to encourage people to get up and get walking as much as possible to maximize positive health outcomes. To incentivize users, StepBet lets you join a variety of games with different step goals by placing bets and splitting a portion of the jackpot with other people who met their personal step goals.
StepBet works with six different smartwatches and Health apps on Android and iOS devices and to date, its 82,000+ users have taken over 129 billion steps, earning more than $9.8 million in jackpot payouts. StepBet also has other health wagering apps, including DietBet, RunBet, and SweatBet.
AARP Rewards for Good
If you’re an AARP member, you can earn points for your Rewards account by connecting it to your Fitbit. You can earn rewards for reaching 10,000 steps each day, the 50 Mile Lifetime Bonus, the 250 Mile Lifetime Bonus, and the 1,000 Mile Lifetime Bonus.
You can then convert your rewards into prizes, such as daily deals, local offers, gift cards, and merchandise.
Final Thoughts on Exercising for Cash
As you can see, you don’t need to be a professional athlete or personal trainer to earn money while exercising. Thanks to fitness wagering apps, you can earn money by meeting your fitness goals, competing with other people for jackpot prizes, and tracking other health-related information like sleeping patterns and food consumption.
Although it’s not a way to get rich quick by any means, these fitness apps still present win-win situations for users who want more of an incentive to get more active in their daily lives.
